Graeme -
Goodness, I hope so...
Actually, I absolutely agree. I have been passing that sentiment along
since 1984. Every part of the average world (business or personal) has a
degree of GIS involved, from the petroleum industry to medical mapping. The
problem, up until just recently, no one even realized it.
The other thing is, that in 1990, the Marine Corps integrated the GIS folks
into the Intelligence community, because (short-sighted minds decided), this
is just map stuff and no one will ever really use it. And since then, we
have added GIS capabilities throughout the Marine Corps and even helped the
other parts of the US Government develop GIS concepts for other comunities.
And last year, the Marine Corps finally insitituted Corps-wide standards for
GIS, that integrates the requirements of the other seven disciplines
(personnel, training, supply, maintenance, planning, systems, and command).
And hopefully, one day, I will get to see GIS become as standard in the
average household as E-mail. Granted, in 1988, E-mail was considered a joke
around the world too, but now look ( .)_( .) Everyone using it....
The advantage we have as "baseline" GIS folks is that we have the
opportunity to determine how deep we want to go with this GIS "stuff" (as
the outside world calls it). We can do the front-end, sexy bell-and-whistle
things that churn sales or we can grind out data so it meets the
requirements of professional services. The sexy bell-and whistle folks will
do well because they will have to keep up on the latest and greatest
(wireless, VRML, etc): and the "grinders" will have to keep up on the
database structure and integration issues, so no matter. As long as we
(personally) don't sit and watch GIS fly by, we'lll be okay.
As for GIS being a requirement for other professions, to underscore your
statement, its already happening. There was a posting on one of the GIS job
boards last week, for a GIS expert to help an MIS manager implement some
applications to track and report on all issues, political, regional, and
weather-related related to the beet. Yes, the BEET.
So as you can see, regardless how they package it, and regardless what they
call it (MIS, LBS, etc), there will always be a need for us. Even with the
possibility of other planets and sub-atomic disciplines, there will always
be a need for GIS experts. Long live us...
-----Original Message-----
From: Graeme Brooke [mailto:gbrooke@shortech.com.au\
Sent: Sunday, August 19, 2001 9:29 AM
Extraordinary advice from Joseph Toland.
I would like to add that that GIS is not an end in itself but a means to an
end.
And now to digress - a note that might not gather popular approval - It is
my opinion that it is quite probable that GIS may well "disappear" in the
not too distant future as an art and science: consumed by the mainstream
"applications". Mapping, spatial awareness and database technologies are,
unfortunately, not enough to define a discipline. Every mainstream
profession has aspects of these "requirements" in their own agenda for
professional services. In my opinion what will happen (and what is
happening) is that the "GIS aspects" will be consumed into EVERY profession
and that the acronym GIS may well disappear from the job postings as a
profession and will reappear as a requirement in the academic requirements
for these professions.
Thoughts? ...
Graeme Brooke
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